Machine for trimming branches from standing trees



MACHINE FOR TRIMMING BRANCHES FROM STANDING TREES Filed Dec. 15, 1945Sept. 20, 1949. R. E. WHITAKER 4 Sheets-Sheet l Roll-E E. WHITAKER,

I N VEN TOR.

A TTUPNAK Sept. 20, 19 R. E. WHITAKER 8 MACHINE FC JR TRIMMING BRANCHESFROM STANDING TREES Filed 1m. 15, 1945 4 sneets-shee 2 lulaulenoaovnunlu n'oaopan n ROLF: E. Wm rnxee. INVENTOR.

ATTORAM'K Sept. 20, 1949. R. E. WHITAKER 2,482,392 MACHINE FOR TRIMMINGBRANCHES FROM STANDING TREES 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 15, 1945 x m aRQLF: E. Wm 74x52 INVENTOR.

fiatented Sept. 1 94 9 raramfr Itali witak L95 meeie rgali iann i auonmt :19f 5,rea m-$55399 i :Qlaim.

)1 v The invention relates to tree trimmers and has particular referenceto :a machine -=e'quipped with 'eutting elements which is adapted toelimb the trunk of the tree and during the course of its progress -tocutoff branches from the trunk. The

device is especially useful in trimming the *fronds from palm trees. 1 V

There are several varieties .of palm trees which are commonly grown forornamental purposes, and many of them attain considerable-height. As

these palm trees continue to grow the f-ronds or,

leaves sprout at the top, :attain :2. $1111 growth during which timethey extend outwardly, and finally die as new tronds continue sproutingupweirdly. The dead fronds continue toaocumulate :alongthe -trunk ofthe'treeas the tree grows upwardly, and unless they are trim-med :ofi,they present a very ragged and unkept appearance. When the :fronds die,*they usually remain =atstached :to the tree trunk fora considerabletime aunless :they are torn from the 'trunk by the wind :or aremut fromthe trunk by treeclirnbers. 21f palm :trees of ithis iparticularsort are:to be kept in (a :tidy appearance, the deadafrondsmust continually ibetrimmed *from lithe trunk as *ithe tree grows upwardly. T'MOIYEOVB'I,they need to tiril'nmed 010567130itheitrufikftoqgive the e Awe-1L keptappearance. a 3501116 oi these trees .grow Lto wery consid :able height,and :the :jobof trimming -:them 'be- :comes viexceedi ngly laborious andexpensive. "in thepast trimming IhaSbeen doneiby streezo'lim bers who,equipped with one'type :or another :of tree climbing apparatus, .climb:the :trunk .eof the tree .sandcut-off theirondson'e shy one. n=other occasions it becomes lnecessaryf-to :bui-ld seafiol'cling about thetreelor to creach the trimming-area by :means oflextensionladders. Thispracticeisiiezipensive and requires a number of skilled work zmen'inorder that the trimmingjob' maybemroperly and safely accomplished.

it is therefore :an object of itherinvention to iproyicle a device fortrimming the-appendages irom'trees, and particularly palm :trees,iwhieh-is :adapted torclimb thetree shy itself during-:the 45 course ofits trimming operation and thereby eliminate the -.necessity ofproviding -.sca-ffolding,

ex-tension :ladders =.or tree climbing equipment 7 :Which can .-'besuccessfully .used .only by experienced tree -,ci1mbers.

Another object of the invention is tosprovide a I 11331111 tree:trimmingrapparatus -which entirely automatic in alts-operation and.capable 50f :bei-ng' montrolled irom the..-.groundasosthait no more than@ezorrtwo kZ/Qfklllfillzl'lfifidibfi intattendaince assthe I the iorrealily moving :maohine from' *tree to tree-which means can be released-'irom eth'e maehine-hs the elimbin'gand trimming ep era.- tion preoeedein erder *toless en the weight of the mae'hine =iuring its olimbirrgoperation,

, i i u h rl the iei iwi the i t t on 'efii nt and certain means i ra ikviths'l me whi e the mi "time .na a min ng app r tus w ich wi contin e 9fe mion 112m e tr mm n ;m1 ;ha; .m as end 29115 when wi l a permi th imii glannamiu i9 i ely ilessienfi i mnerl tip a terihe'tri m g onetaa lhwatig, li ie rwhg ehr h qat. 'tained, as hereinafter more fully set"nth, re ntee out-in ti e la m zi lil i iett in t apaa "d ii ee iewfi m7' 1 i o e aiutifi ef-pneiq m at a pmuatirztreeaseen 5 andtrimmie 5 mm?--12 a tra e w aiming e earatiifi r m gnar mime el -mammar .n etiqalwiewia en cQI- i k fiieureitw 1 35 are isaeiha mteemeroe zs ctiom w ewiEia Hiisaa :trasmentwry,flon itudma Lisew itignailgriewlshowingarcuttin rnembe iqf asmqdififiilifrKPfi- 1' iili urp 1B .:a immature ieqtimal Vie re mtlierimodifitfl firmlaieimndae mlttter. s

I various diameters V 3 Figure 9 is a top plan view of a modified typeof climbing and trimming apparatus.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view showing amodified type of climbin element.

It is commonly known that palm trees of most types are trees havin asingle trunk and are Without branches except for a cluster of frondswhich grow from the top of the trunk. As the fronds grow, spreadoutwardly and eventually die, the stalk of the frond turns outwardly andthen downwardly without, however, hugging the trunk. It often becomes aproblem to cut the fronds off high '4 while the apparatus is performingits work on the tree.

To enable the frame to climb the tree trunk there are provided climberslocated one on each corner of the frame, these being illustrated mostclearly in Figures 3, 4 and 5. Each climber consists of a horizontalbeam 25 to which is welded a vertical bracket 26. At each of the upperand lower ends of the vertical bracket is a gear 21 rotatably mountedupon a horizontal shaft 28.

On one side of each gear is affixed a wheel 29 up on the trunk. Somespace, however, remains between the frond and the trunk, and the frondscan be cut from the trunk by a saw or other cutter which is pushedsubstantially in an upward direction against them. Since a frond cutterneed not therefore travel in a horizontal direction, the problem lendsitself more readily to solution by a machine operated frondage cutterwhich can both climb and trim the tree.

In order to provide an automatic climber and trimmer, it is thereforenecessary to have a carriage which is adapted to advance up the trunk ofthe tree from the. bottom toward the top equipped with a saw or othercutting instrument on the top side capable of progressively cutting onefrond after another during the progress of the machine up the tree.

In an embodiment chosen to illustrate the invention there is shown aclimbing and cutting apparatus comprising a square frame or carriageidentified generally by the character H) which consists of two parts I land I2 permanently hinged at one side by a hinge l3 and having areleasable lock [4 on the opposite side which may be secured by means ofapin or other suitable device. In Figure 1 the square frame is shown inthe position it would have when encirclingthe trunk of a palm tree orwhile being moved fromv one position to another. The part I l of theframe is shown pivoted to an open position by the dotted lines in Figure1, a position the frame is adapted to take while it is being moved so asto encircle the trunk of a palm tree. Once the frame is locked inposition about the base of the tree it is adapted to be movedautomatically upwardly along the trunk by suitable climbers powered byan appropriate motor, and during its progress upwardly a second motor isadapted to rotate a circular saw which-surrounds the tree so that thesawing action may progress as the apparatus climbs.

As will be more clearly apparent from Figure 3, each part of the frameis made up of an upper element l5, a lower element It and verticalcolum'ns I1 spaced so as to provide a sufficient support between theupper and lower elements. For supporting the frame as a" whole there areprovided wheels [8, one on each corner, mounted upon swivel carriagesl9, each carriage being retained within a journal housing 20. At theupper portion of the carriage is a shaft 2| having a series of holes 22.The shaft has a free fit within the journal housing to permit it toslide endwise. To temporarily prevent endwise sliding a pin may bepassed through a hole 23 in the journal housing into one of the holes 22of the shaft to anchor the carriage to the frame in a position adjustedas to elevation. Whenever the frame is lifted during the course of itsclimbing up a tree trunk, the pins may be withdrawn and the carriagespermitted to slip freeof the journal housings. The wheels may by thisexpedient be left on the ground having a friction tread which is adaptedto roll along the tree trunk. The gears 21 are connected together by achain 30 so that the lower gear may be driven by the upper gear. Inorder to apply power to the upper gear, a second gear 3| is affixed tothe wheelon the face opposite from the gear 21, and a drive chain 32extends around the gear 3i over an idler gear 33 to a drive gear 34. Theidler gear is mounted upon a link 35 which is normally drawn in anoutward direction by means of a coiled spring 38 attached at one end tothe link and at the other end to an extension of the horizontal beam 25.The purpose of the idler ear is to maintain the drive chain 32 taut asthe climbers move in and out to engage a tree trunk of lesser or greaterdiameter.

In order to apply power simultaneously to all of the climbers at thesame rate, there is provided' a universal drive shaft indicatedgenerally by the reference character 40 and shown in bottom plan View inFigure 6. The universal drive shaft comprises individual links 4|connected together by a series of universal joints 42. The universaldrive shaft is supported at each corner of the frame by a pair ofbearings 43 mounted upon corner plates 49.

Midway between the ends of the universal drive shaft is a sprocket gear44 which is connected by means of a drive chain 45 to a drive gear 45 ona shaft 4'! of a geared head motor 48. The motor is permanently mountedupon one side of the frame with its shaft rotating in a horizontalplane. Power for the motor may be supplied throughwires'49 (Fig. 1)which can be payed out from the ground and the operation of the motorcontrolled by suitable electric control devices of a well-known sortconnected into the wire which supplies power to the motor. Although anelectric motor is shown, it is contemplated that other types of motorsmay be found equally applicable.

When the geared head motor 48 is operated, the universal drive shaft isrotated which in turn rotates each of the gears 34 at the same rate,these gears being adapted to drive each of the climbers likewise at thesame rate and thereby advance the frame up the tree trunk. By reversingoperation of the motor, the frame may be moved down the tree trunk.Brakes may be provided, if necessary, depending upon the type of motivepower selected.

. In order that the climbers may be in close contact with the tree trunkat all times to provide ,sufiicient traction for the treads of thewheels,

each of the brackets 26 is attached to a piston rod 5|] of a hydraulicram 5i which is mounted with its axis in a horizontal direction on theframe at approximately the mid-point of the bracket. By. operation ofthe hydraulic ram the piston rod 50 is moved inwardly or outwardly.Movement of the piston rod causes the beam 25 to slide inwardly oroutwardly, the beam being supported upon the vertical column I! by meansof a bracket 42 held in spaced relation to the beam by blocks 53. Thebracket 52 also provides named a. 'mnunting .for the hydraulic; iram...-A,-.:certain limited freedom of. motion. may be permitted by meansofaconduit 61 from a sourceof hydraulie p wer: which. may be maintainednear the base f: the, tree, The conduit tl'may be of sufficient len thto permit it to. be-payed out: as the;- frame climbs the. treesAlthough. .a .hydraulic'ramis specifically designated, it will beappreciated that air may be. substituted or even a. motor means otherthan those. operated by fluid pressure be utilized.

. In Q fder to. rim. the. fronds; or growing appendages from the trunk.of a palm tree, there' is provided. a. fronda e. cutter .whichiencirclesthe. tree; trunk, and is operated: througha repeated circumterential.cutting cycle as the frame or-car iese autnmaticallyascends thetreetrunk; In the: embodiment. illustrated in Figures 1-,- 2: and 3 the:trondage cutter comprises a ring gear indicated generally by thereference character which consists of two separable parts H and-l2 whichare. adapted. tobe joined together by some quick: connecting means atthe ends sov that the ring. gear may be opened together with the frame.as the apparatus is applied around a tree trunk. The ring gear isdriven'by a chain 14 whichextends.outwardly at one side of theirame,passing around a sprocket I5 which is keyed to a motor-shaft 16. on ageared head motor 11. A gear reduction box 18 may be provided wherenecessary in order to reduce the speed of rotation of the ring gear. 7

To; support the ringgear on the frame there are provided a pluralityofbearings comprising brackets 80, one secured at the'mid-portionateachiside: ot he. frame. Adjacent. the bracket is a wheel bearing 8|(Fig. 2) supportedon a, stub h f 2 attached to the iramepart [5. in aposition such that the ring gear is' adapted to rest and r tate upon thecircumference of the wheel hearing. In order tov hold the. ring gear in.place, thee-bracket is provided with a turned down. lip 8.3381? the:end. which. is. directed against the" top face of; he ring gear at.a-pointopposite from the circumference of the wheel bearing, The

ring. gear: is maintained in position bymean'sof bearing wheels 84rotatably mounted upon plates 84:." which. extend radially inwardly fromeachcorneroi the. frame. The bearing wheels 84 rotate in a,horiz0ntalplane against the cylindrical side surface of the ring gear. The gearedhead"; motor may be operated by remote control through. a-power line 19.I

Gutting: elements are mounted uponthe ring gear and comprise a series offlexible arms 85 secured to a cylindrical portion 86 of the ring gear bysome suitable means such as bolts 81. The

flexible arms in the embodiment shown extend in a substantially verticaldirection upwardly and terminate each in a pointed top 88 having acutting edge on the advancing side. An eyelet 89 may be provided on thearm adjacent the upper or free end and a coiled spring 90 passed throughthe eyelets of all of the arms and joined at the ends so that tension inthe spring tends to draw :tnemittmaedgesat the 285391168 ofthsarmsitogethert inwardly toward: the-trunk of: the tree at all: times:As. theafrondage cutter ascends. the

trunk of: the; tree and the, diameter gradually .de-

creases the arms will bev drawn: inwardly toward the.- dotted. position.9.1 illustrated in Figure: 3. When the. frondage; cutter in companywithv the frame: descends, the. spring will. permit; the arms to} expandand extend outwardly'fol lowing the trunk; as the: diameter grows.larger vtoxrrard'the bottom. Inasmuch as the; cut. isImad-e bypassingthe cuttersv circumierentially. about the :tree

.trunk...and' in an upward direction rather'than an: inward direction,there is no likelihood of the free; ends of. the arms; catching in thesurface of the trunk of the tree and; thereby either damag ing; thefrondage cutter or preventing ascent of the. frame.

Itywillbe; apparent from theforegoing" descriptionl'thatthe: apparatusmay be. appliedito a tree trunlebyopening the partsof the frame togetherwith the ring gear. During application or the devicewin-this manner: thechain. 14: will 21180211886 to be; broken and applied again to.- thering. gear after the: framerand: the ring gear have been closed and.secured. around. the base of the tree trunk. After the; apparatus isinplace hydraulic pressure; will: be: applied to the hydraulic. ramsalwhich will thereupon exert sufiicient. forceupon the: brackets 26 to.force .thewheels 291 into en- .gagement with..the: trunks0:- thatthereistraction between: the wheeltreads and: the tree; trunk; Hydraulicpressure will be under constant application; to progressively advance.the wheels as thejtrunkgets-smallerl p I The e1ectric m,otor-48 maythen; be started byta switch located on, the ground; and: the: wheels.29 will begin; rotating moving the climbers and. the frame up-the tree;trunlc, The frondagea cutter will; be carriedinadvance'oi.thezframesandwhen the waste fronds are encountered, theelectric motor 111 maybe-started by remote; control and the arms andtheir cutting; tips started. revolw ing around the tree; trunk-.Movement; upward oi the frame and; frondage cutter maybe contain acertain amount of hydraulic, pressure, so.

that traction between thewlieel's. 29. and. theitree trunk continues tobe sufficient tov prevent. the frame from, dropping too suddenly.Hydraulic pressure, moreover, will act as. a. brake by. restraining to adegree movement of, the wheel brackets '26 radially outwardly as. the,diameter of the trunk enlarges. V

A modifiedform of frondage cutter isillus: trated in Figure 7 wherein aring gear has mounted thereon pairs of vertical'support's 9i pivoted atthe points 92 to the ring gear so that the supports may move from anoutward full line position, as shown in Figure 7, to the dottedpositions 9! there shown. The supports are joined at the top andconnected to a saw segment 93 by means of a pin 94, the saw segmenthaving inwardly and upwardly directed teeth 95. For

referred to maybe passed through holes 96 in,

the saw segments.

radius of curvature substituted where trunks of trees of differentdiameters are encountered. The location of the segmental cutters withrespect to the ring gear may be varied by changin the size of thesegmental brackets I03 so that segmental cutters are spaced at a greateror lesser distance radially from the ring gear. I

On occasions it may be desired to dispense with a universal drive shaftsuch as the drive shaft 40 described in connection with Figures 1, 3 and6. A suitable substitute may consist of a series 1 of separate unitaryshafts identified by the reference characters I06, I01, I08 and I09. Asshown in Figure 9, the short shafts I06 and I09 are provided withjournal brackets I I located on corner plates III and sprockets II 2 atthe journalled ends provided with drive chains II3 connected in theusual manner to gears 3I on the climbers. The ends of the short shaftsare journalled in Y brackets H4. The short shafts I06 and I09 areangularly disposed relative to the respectively adjacent long shafts I01and I08. Bevel gears I I5 and II 6 respectively on the short and longshafts permit the short shafts to be driven by the long shafts. One endof each long shaft is journalled in the Y bracket and the other endsecured by a journal bracket II'I mounted upon a corner plate IIB, inturn secured to the frame. The long shafts are likewise provided withsprockets II9 which by means of drive chains I are connected to therespective climbers.

A composite bracket I2I provides a mounting for a stub shaft I22 on eachside which is in turn connected by a universal joint I23 to therespectively adjacent long shaft. Bevel gears I24 on the stub shaftsmeshing with bevel gears I25 on a suitable idler shaft transfer powerfrom a geared head motor I20 through a drive chain I 21 to the sprocketI28 which is keyed to the idler shaft. In other respects the modifiedform shown in Figures 9 and 10 is constructed and operates in the samemanner as the first described form.

A modified type of climber is illustrated in Figwire 10. In the modifiedclimber there is provided the usual beam 25 and bracket 26 weldedthereon. At the upper and lower ends of the bracket are gears andsprockets I and I40 which are driven by the previously described chain32. In this instance, however, a chain I 4| which interconnects thegears I35 and I40 actually provides a traction surface for engagementwith the tree trunk 55, replacing the wheels described in connectionwith the first form. In

bases thereof.

1 8 other respects the modification 'of Figure 1010]- lows the samepattern as the first described form.

By the provision of an automatic frondage cutter of the type hereindescribed there has been provided a machine which can readily be appliedto a palm tree of virtually any size and once applied around the treecan be operated by controls located on the ground which guide theapparatus so that it climbs the trunk of the tree to positions ofengagement of the frondage cutter elements with the fronds at pointsadjacent the Likewise, by controls operated from the ground the cuttingelements may be rotated and the fronds cut off one by one. Uponcompletion, the entire apparatus may be lowered at a suitable rate ofspeed to the ground and then readily removed and transported to the nexttree.

Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what isconceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isrecognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of theinvention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed hereinbut is to be accorded the full scope of the claim so as to embrace anyand all equivalent structures. Having described my invention, what Iclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: In a treetrimming machine, an annular frame formed of separable sections adaptedto be disposed detachably around a standing tree trunk and supportedthereby, an annular unit formed of separable sections rotatablysupported by said frame, means for rotating said unit relativelyto theframe, cutters carried by said unit for engagement with the tree trunk,and motor driven traction means carried by the frame for engagement withthe tree trunk for moving the machine lengthwise thereof, thesimultaneous rotation of said unit and lengthwise movement of said framecausing the cutters to execute a helical cutting operation. Y ROLFE E.WHITAKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date '1 186,944 Nudd Feb. 6, 1877397,114 Dolsen Feb. 5, 1889 742,447 Kidder Oct. 27, 1903 957,473 OlafsonMay 10, 1910 1,114,505 Moore Oct. 20, 1914 1,243,294 Hruska Oct. 16,1917 1,299,289 Berg Apr. 1, 1919 1,607,784 Spangler Nov. 23, 19262,174,525 Padernal Oct. 3, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date216,774 Germany Dec. 3,1909 722,254 France Dec, 28, 1931

